Deeply Divided

Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America

Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos

Advances a novel interpretation of 20th-century American political history

Traces the current conservative turn in American politics back to the social reforms of the 1960s

Interdisciplinary perspective is accessible to general readers interested in gaining a comprehensive perspective on recent American history

Presents controversial argument stressing the central role of race and racism in the emergence and consolidation of today's GOP

Deeply Divided

Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America

Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos

Description

The United States is now more starkly divided in political terms than at any time since the end of Reconstruction and more unequal in material terms than on the eve of the Great Depression. How did we go from the bipartisan cooperation and relative economic equality of the war and postwar years to today's inequality and partisan divisions?

In Deeply Divided, sociologists Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos argue that to represent contemporary political polarization and economic inequality as byproducts of party politics alone is to distort the complex origins of the mess in which we find ourselves today. Rather, it is social movements, from the Civil Rights movement to today's Tea Party, that have pushed Republicans and Democrats toward the fringes.

Owing in large part to WWII and then to the Cold War and McCarthyism, the period from 1940 to 1960 was uniquely devoid of social movement activity. Spared these pressures, both parties were able to hew to the ideological middle, creating opportunities for bipartisan cooperation and conditions for relative material equality. Social movements re-emerged as a significant force in the 1960s, moving the Democrats and Republicans sharply left and right respectively over the course of the decade. The movements most responsible were two linked struggles: the civil rights movement and the nationwide "white backlash" that developed in response.

Over the past half-century social movements have continued to challenge parties as the dominant mobilizing force in American politics. This is especially true today on the right, where the Republican Party and the policies of its House delegation largely reflect the views of its mobilized movement wing. McAdam and Kloos stress that a reversal of these trends is possible-if only we are able to understand the challenges involved in overcoming political and economic divisions.

Deeply Divided

Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America

Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 How Did We Get Into This Mess? Chapter 2 Postwar America: Bipartisan Consensus, the Median Voter, and the Absence of Social Movements Chapter 3 The Center Will Not Hold: The 1960s and the Shifting Racial Geography of American Politics Chapter 4 The Strange, Consequential Seventies Chapter 5 The Reagan Revolution? Chapter 6 The Slow-Release Revolution: 1988-2008 Chapter 7 The Obama Years: Uncivil War Chapter 8 Restoring American Democracy References Notes Index

Deeply Divided

Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America

Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos

Author Information

Doug McAdam is The Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology at Stanford University and the former Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He is the author or co-author of 15 books and some 75 articles in the area of political sociology, with a special emphasis on race in the U.S., American politics, and the study of social movements and "contentious politics." Karina Kloos is a scholar of social movements, and activist for the empowerment of marginalized groups. Her research and NGO work focus primarily on international communities and issues, with particular attention to civic and political rights of ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, and women and girls globally.

Deeply Divided

Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America

Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos

Reviews and Awards

"This is a fascinating book on the politics of racial and social inequality in the United States, from the time of Mad Men until the Obama years. Power has turned upside down at the Oval office, but what happened at the bottom? A must-read." - Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

"Deeply Divided reveals in sharp relief how extreme inequality and unprecedented partisan polarization are threatening our democratic ideals and practices. Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos's insightful discussion of the roots of these developments and how they can be overcome deserves a wide audience." - William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University

"In this timely book, Doug McAdam and Karina Kloos masterfully illuminate the often neglected role that social movements of the left and right have played in replacing bipartisan politics of the 1950s with the rancorous divisions of the twenty-first century." - Nolan McCarty, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University

"This thoughtfully provocative reading of transformations to American politics and society since the close of World War Two artfully weaves together issues, themes, and types of analysis too often kept apart. Placing race, social movements, and economic inequality front and center, Deeply Divided develops a fresh and compelling analytical account of the origins, content, and dynamics of current democratic distempers." - Ira Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time

"McAdam and Kloos bring out the critical, but mostly ignored, role of the counterpoint between social movements and electoral politics responsible for major shifts in public policy since the beginning of the Republic" - to the left and, more recently, to the right. This book is essential reading for any who seek to understand the sources of political dysfunction gripping American government, especially the forces responsible for the battle within the Republican Party and the currents of anti-government policy in both parties.

"This title is a fascinating and enlightening look at the contemporary political quagmire." - Library Journal